Minnesota Twins Unable to Recover From Four-Run First, Drop Series Finale Against White Sox 8-0

The Minnesota Twins spent most of Wednesday afternoon trying to recover from a first inning they never really escaped. After taking the first two games of the series, Minnesota fell behind immediately and never mounted a response in an 8-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Target Field.

The White Sox wasted little time to set the tone, sending eight batters to the plate in the opening frame. Taj Bradley loaded the bases before recording an out and quickley found himself down 4-0. By the end of the afternoon, the Twins had been held to just four hits and were shut out for the first time this season.

For manager Derek Shelton, the issues started with Bradley's inability to consistently locate his pitches.

"I think that's what it was," Shelton told reporters postgame via TwinsTV. "The fastball execution was not good, was a lot of arm side misses, lot of high misses. He missed with the split up a bunch. It wasn't until the fifth inning where he actually executed the split at all."

Bradley entered the day having allowed 10 first-inning runs across 11 starts this season. The White Sox added to that total quickly and spent the rest of the afternoon playing from ahead.

Shelton acknowledged that Bradley has not looked quite like the pitcher who was rolling before his recent injured list stint.

"He was very good before," said Shelton, via TwinsTV. "I mean, he looks like he's out of sync right now, so I think that's what we got to get back to."

The Twins never gave themselves much of a chance to recover. Chicago right-hander Erick Fedde retired 11 straight hitters to open the game and carried a no-hit bid into the fifth inning before Luke Keaschall broke it up with a two-out single.

"They suppressed us today," Shelton said, via TwinsTV. "We hit some balls hard early that didn't fall, and then got behind and really didn't do much."

While the Twins struggled to generate offense, White Sox rookie Sam Antonacci seemed to find a way aboard every time he stepped into the batter's box. Antonacci reached base six times, collecting four hits, two doubles, a walk and a hit-by-pitch while helping Chicago avoid a three-game sweep.

The White Sox added on throughout the afternoon, but the outcome felt largely settled after the opening inning. Andrew Benintendi's eight-inning blast would cap off the 8-0 scoreline. Despite a missed opportunity at the sweep, Shelton noted the improvement on his squad's performance just last week in Chicago.

"Two out of three," said Shelton, via TwinsTV. "Against the team that beat us last week, and we played well in two games. Today, we just got behind early and couldn't climb out of it."

The Twins will look to keep the momentum of a series win to open the homestand, as they'll host the Royals next. Shelton will send Andrew Morris to the mound for Thursday's opener, while Kansas City counters with Seth Lugo.